Major League Murder

Posted by on Nov 11, 2019 in | Comments Off on Major League Murder Samuel Byrem “Red” Crane’s life was one of extremes. Born on September 13, 1894, in Harrisburg, Dauphin County, he achieved the pinnacle of his chosen profession early in his adult life, playing seven seasons in Major League Baseball. He played for the Philadelphia Athletics, 1914–16, and the Washington Senators, 1917, before a two-year hiatus in the minor leagues, 1918–19. He returned to MLB,...
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Herb Pennock, Baseball Hall of Famer and World War I Vet

Posted by on Jun 13, 2017 in | Comments Off on Herb Pennock, Baseball Hall of Famer and World War I Vet Herbert Jefferis “Herb” Pennock (1894-1948) was born and raised in Kennett Square, Chester County. He was reared in the Religious Society of Friends, or Quaker, faith. He was the son of Mary L. (Sharp) and Theodore Pennock, a well-to-do businessman whose lineage in Pennsylvania stretched back to 1685, when Christopher Pennock immigrated to Philadelphia from Ireland. Nicknamed the...
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Baseball, Bubble Gum and Bowman

Posted by on Jun 19, 2015 in | Comments Off on Baseball, Bubble Gum and Bowman Originally designed to sell bubble gum, baseball cards were included in one-and-five cent packs of gum and became treasures to the millions of boys and girls who collected them in the mid-20th century. Kids traded them with their friends, played games with them like flipping, and even attached them to their bicycle wheels to mimic motorcycle sounds. A study conducted in the early 1960s showed...
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A Pitcher, A President and a Home Movie

Posted by on May 8, 2015 in | Comments Off on A Pitcher, A President and a Home Movie In November 2013 the Pennsylvania State Archives was contacted by Mrs. Judith Savastio regarding a home movie that her father filmed. She had questions about preserving the film and was interested in finding a repository for its permanent care. Mrs. Savastio’s father, Major League Baseball pitcher James “Jimmie” DeShong (1909-1993), shot the film on his new 8mm home movie...
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Philadelphia’s Mr. Baseball and His Amazing Athletics

Posted by on Nov 27, 2013 in | Comments Off on Philadelphia’s Mr. Baseball and His Amazing Athletics Connie Mack always seemed to be dressed in black. His three­-piece business suit, complete with necktie, detach­able collar and derby, gave him the appearance of a Philadel­phia funeral director rather than baseball manager. But for the ten years he had guided the hometown Athletics, Mack took his job very seriously. To be sure, on this sunny Sep­tember morning in 1911, the game of baseball had...
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Brewerytown, USA

Posted by on Nov 26, 2013 in | Comments Off on Brewerytown, USA Nearly everyone has heard of the beer that made Milwau­kee famous, but so few have heard of Philadel­phia’s Brewerytown. The names of Philadelphia companies – Arnholt and Schaefer, Baltz, Bergner and Engel, Burg and Pfaender, Eble and Herter, Keller, Muel­ler, Rothacker, and Weger Brothers – are now largely forgotten, supplanted by to­day’s familiar Blatz, Miller, Pabst,...
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Bookshelf

Posted by on Nov 26, 2013 in | Comments Off on Bookshelf Coal and Coke in Pennsylvania by Carmen DiCiccio Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission, 1996 (223 pages, paper, 16.95) Coal and Coke in Pennsylvania began in 1991 as a written guide for the nomination of soft coal operations and coke extractive facilities in western Pennsylvania to the National Register of Historic Places. During the project, diverse sources were consulted, including...
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Bookshelf

Posted by on Nov 26, 2013 in | Comments Off on Bookshelf Connie Mack’s ’29 Triumph: The Rise and Fall of the Philadelphia Athletics Dynasty by William C. Kashatus McFarland & Company, Inc., 1999 (216 pages, cloth, $28.50) To baseball historians, Connie Mack (1862-1956) is a star among managers. His professionalism, penetrating knowledge of the game, and ability to handle his players helped him claim nine pennants, win five World...
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Currents

Posted by on Nov 26, 2013 in | Comments Off on Currents White Elephants Baseball historians generally consider Connie Mack (1862-1956) the paragon of managers. His knowledge of the game, professional disposition, and ability to acquire and, more importantly, manage players captured the attention of sports enthusiasts during a time when the national pastime was riddled with scandal, permeated with intemperance, and punctuated by rowdyism. Connie Mack...
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Eddie Plank

Posted by on Nov 25, 2013 in | Comments Off on Eddie Plank Gettysburg conjures up images of the greatest battle of the American Civil War. Shortly after guns were silenced, the same rural community played an important role in producing one of baseball’s greatest pitchers. Edward Stewart “Eddie ” Plank, born August 31, 1875, played baseball for Gettysburg College, while attending Gettysburg Academy from 1900 to 1901. He went directly...
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